Maximum Standard Length

A small group of these can be kept in a standard 24″ x 15″ x 12″ (60cm x 37.5cm x 30cm) – 70 litretank.

Maintenance

A biotope setup would be very simple to arrange. Use a substrate of riversand and add a few driftwood branches (if you can’t find driftwood of the desired shape, common beech is safe to use if thoroughly dried and stripped of bark) and twisted roots. A few handfuls of dried leaves (again beech can be used, or oak leaves are also suitable) would complete the natural feel. Aquatic plants are not a feature of this species‘ natural waters. Allow the wood and leaves to stain the water the colour of weak tea, removing old leaves and replacing them every few weeks so they don’t rot and foul the water. A small net bag filled with aquarium-safe peat can be added to the filter to aid in the simulation of black water conditions. Use fairly dim lighting. Under these conditions the true beauty of the fish will be revealed.

Alternatively, it also does well in a more standard, well-planted tank. A good maintenance regime is essential with this species as it will lose colour in unfavourable conditions. Weekly partial water changes are therefore a must.

Water Conditions

Temperature: 76-80°F (24-27°C)

pH: 5.5-7.0. Its colours will become faded if kept in alkaline conditions.

Hardness: 2-15°H

Diet

Omnivorous and will accept just about anything offered. It does have a small mouth, though, so correspondingly-sized foods are best. Feed a mixture of dried flakes and granules and small live and frozen foods. A varied diet such as this is essential for the best colour development.

It’s a very peaceful species that won’t compete well with very boisterous or much larger tankmates. Ideally, keep it with other South American species, such as other Hemigrammus or Hyphessobryconspecies, pencil fish, Apistogramma dwarf cichlids, Corydoras and small Loricariids. In a more general community it can be combined with smaller rasboras, barbs, Anabantoids and West African dwarf cichlids such as Pelvicachromisspecies. Many discus enthusiasts keep a shoal of rummy noses in their show tanks, too.

Always buy a group of at least 6 of these, preferably 10 or more. They are one of the more tightly shoaling small tetras, and will not do well if kept in insufficient numbers. Because they do shoal so closely, they actually look far more effective when maintained like this anyway.

Sexual Dimorphism

Reproduction

Can be bred in a similar way to other species in the genus. You’ll need to set up a separate tank if you want to raise decent numbers of fry. Something around 18″ x 10″ x 10″ in size is fine. This should be very dimly lit and contain clumps of fine-leaved plants such as java moss or spawning mops, to give the fish somewhere to deposit their eggs. Alternatively, you could cover the base of the tank with some kind of mesh. This should be of a large enough grade so that the eggs can fall through it, but small enough so that the adults cannot reach them. The water should be soft and acidic in the range pH 5.5-6.5, gH 1-5, with a temperature of around 80-84°F. Filtering the water through peat is useful, as is the use of RO water. A small air-powered sponge filter bubbling away very gently is all that is needed in terms of filtration.

It can be spawned in a group, with half a dozen specimens of each sex being a good number. Condition these with plenty of small live foods and spawning should not present too many problems.

Alternatively, it can be spawned in pairs. Under this technique, the fish are conditioned in male and female groups in separate tanks. When the females are noticeably full of eggs and the males are displaying their best colours, select the fattest female and best-coloured male and transfer them to the spawningtank. Contrary to much that has been written this species spawns exclusively in the evening

In either situation, the adults will eat the eggs given the chance and should be removed as soon as eggs are noticed. These will hatch in 24-36 hours, with the fry becoming free swimming a 3-4 days later. They should be fed on an infusoria–type food for the first few days, until they are large enough to accept microworm or brine shrimpnauplii. The eggs and fry are light sensitive in the early stages of life and the tank should be kept in darkness if possible.

This is the ‘real’ rummy-nose. The species most often sold as such is, in fact, the firehead tetra, H. bleheri. These 2 are very similar in appearance, as is the ‘false’ rummy-nose, Petitella georgiae. The 3 species can distinguished by several factors.

The first, is by the extent to which the red colouration on the head of the fish extends into the body. H. bleheri is the only one of the 3 in which the red extends beyond the gill covers. The amount of red colouration on the other 2 species is similar, although it tends to be a little lighter in tone in P. georgiae. This factor alone cannot be used to positively identify a species, though, as if the fish are not in good condition, the red colour can fade considerably. This is particularly true for H. bleheri.

The second thing we can examine is the caudal peduncle of the fish. All 3 species possess a dark blotch at the top of the caudal peduncle, but only the Hemigrammus possess one at the bottom. If the bottom blotch is absent, you are probably looking at a Petitella.

The third factor to look at is the line extending laterally from the central caudalfin band into the body of the fish. This is quite broad in P. georgiae, narrower in H. rhodostomus and almost non-exisitent in H. bleheri. By a combination of these factors, you should be able to identify your fish. The species differ in a couple of other ways, too, such as the patterning of the caudalfin and at the base of the anal fin. Obviously, they can also be distinguished by finray and scale counts, but the methods described here should suffice for most hobbyists.

Like all Hemigrammus, the taxonomic status of this species is currently Incertae Sedis, meaning uncertain. The genus is currently used as something of a catch-all for over 70 species of small characin. Most experts agree that a full revision is required, with the likely outcome that many species will be placed into new or different genera.